"Though shalt not steal" is simply another rule that holds society (regardless of primitive or developed) together. Verymuch included in Kants categorial imperative. Nothing mysterious there. That is why all societies have a rule like that.

In addition, in case someone wonders, yes that will include post-op persons. Eunuchs being accepted in female spaces has a long history (check out the harems of the Ottoman and Ming rulers).

If I open a pub (which I am thinking about), the toilets will not say "male" and "female", but instead "balls" and "no balls". Problem solved, and all the linguistic sophistry bypassed. Agree?

Correct, clearly. It is a group affirmation. As for morality, it is of course a necessary code for organizing society, in which social animals like humans live. There clearly is no universal morality; just look at different human societies. (I.e. is all life sacred, or do you get rewarded for killing apostates? --- you can not have both.)

What you seem to be implying is that COVID-19 is an epiphenomenon of sorts, that it happens to accompany these deaths but does not actively play a role in them. This is unsubstantiated. COVID-19 does in fact play a causal role in these deaths.

That is something you`d have to show in each individual case, and even than it is not clear.
Fact is, for the young and health, Corona is a practically non-existant danger. For the old and healthy, it is a small danger. For the obese, diabetic, supersized-junkburger and dietcoke consuming crowds waddling through Walmart it is a very big danger. They already should take some responsibility for their health, Corona just amplifies that.

My prediction stands: By and large, general population health will be the biggest factor.

Woodward book: Trump says he knew coronavirus was ‘deadly’ and worse than the flu while intentionally misleading Americans
— Michael

At the risk of being accused of TDS... I think that this is a not good thing.

And at the risk of being called a Trumpet, I would like to point out that he added he does not want to create a panic. The toilet paper runs were bad enough as they were.
Which is absolutely reasonable. If had created a panic, the media would bash hin for that. Orangemanband if you do, orangemanbad if you don´t.

Only in a very specific situation, and they don,t muzzle your face.

I wish for a successful Brexit, followed by Itaxit, Swexit, Fixit, Grexit, Spexit and many more. Best of Course would be a Germanexit, because that would be the end of the EU imperalist project right there.... without the financier, Macaron is left sitting on a a bankrupt half-empire.

I have skimmed through this topic and I have not seen any clear example of "systemic racism". Does racism exist? Sure! Is it codified in laws and regulations? Where? In South Africa, I assume, in the apartheid days pro-whte, in the current time pro-black. But where else?

ssu
The basic problem is that I don't really see how to de-escalate or calm the situation.
There is no will for that. The media have been whipping up anti-Trump hatred for years and will continue to do so.

Now, the neocon/neolib think tanks are talking about the "red mirage" scenario. I.e. Trump wins decisively on election day, and then all these mass mail Biden votes will keep arriving by snail mail... until the numbers are as desired. Of course that will look dubious to say the least, so expect media hysteria and street violents to continue past election, until eventually the courts will decide.

Mr Bee
In other news 190K people now died from COVID, Trump still politicizing masks for some reason.

190K people adjusted for population is mid-range internationally, plus there is huge variance in deaths between the states in America, just like between countries in Europe. A US average figure makes as much (or little) sense as a European average figure.

Masks have been a political issue from the moment governments started mandating them instead of recommending them, Just to put things in perspective.

Antifa mugshots:

https://duckduckgo.com/antifa%20mugshots?iax=images&ia=images

Notice some similarity in the deranged facial expression? I think a gallery of TDS sufferers would look similar (albeit with better personal hygiene, I assume)

Our little Trump prostitute NOS still pretending that there's any possible way to think that Trump is not a soulless wasteland of a human being hey?

Yeah, arguments like that will convince people who are not TDS sufferers. Got to love the high level of discussion here.

Framed as "divisive, anti-American propaganda".
It boggles the mind to think of what this guy's concept of "American" might be. — Metaphysician Undercover

That is exactly what "critical race theory" is. You might want to read up on its roots, its current dogma (DiAngelos White Fragility is a good start), and on the context of the programs pushed by these groups. Benjamin Boyce had a running documentation of the events at Evergreen College, which was a precursor of what is now playing out on a larger scale.

Which suggests that like a lot of things, what it is devolves to choice and consensus. — tim wood

Err, what? So you agree with the concept of "conversion therapy"? Because that would be the logical conclusion from your claim.

How many people without co-morbidities likely died from the Spanish flu, or die each year from the seasonal flu? — Janus

I do not know that, and neither do you. Fact is, Corona alone is killing very few people. Incidentally, the Spanish flue killed especially young and healthy people (apparently caused of overreaction in the immune system), so it is more like opposite situation of Corona.

As I read somewhere else - these people would eat a shit sandwich just so that some 'lib' somewhere could smell their breath. Trump being said sandwich. — StreetlightX

High level of discussion here. Love the topical arguments.

Assuming that we live in a simulation, than God(s) would be the creator(s) of the simulation. Of course, creationism would also be acceptable, since the creators might have created the whole system (or at least the mechanism that let it develop).
So it is quite possible to be atheist and believe in God(s).

This doesn't change the fact that 150K people with pre-existing conditions are dead. — darthbarracuda

Yes, but WITH Corona, not FROM Corona. It is a different statement.
And it more reflects the general health of a population than anything about the virus. (Which I suspect will be the general global outcome anyway, once this thing has run its course.)

How could anyone claim that there's no potential for it?

The media have been saying for weeks that mass mail voting is completely safe and fraud free. Twitter and Facebook have censoring diverging opinions. Now suddenly, the narrative is that people can go and double-vote. Never say opinions dont change.

Now there's only the Spanish Flu to compete with. That's 500 000 to 850 000 dead, so I assume this pandemic won't break the record. — ssu

With 9000 Corona-only deaths in the US so far (I think adjusted for co-morbidities, figures look similar in other countries), no it won´t.
The CDC statistics show that it is really heard on the elderly, plus people with several co-morbidities. For most of the population, it is neglibible.

Corona has killed about 9000 people in the US, a practically irrelevant figure.

(Yes, the figure always quoted in the media is 150,000, but those are with co-morbidities. Corona alone only 6% of that, aka about 9000 people).

See updated CDC page:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm?fbclid=IwAR2-muRM3tB3uBdbTrmKwH1NdaBx6PpZo2kxotNwkUXlnbZXCwSRP2OmqsI#Comorbidities